Trains derail at flooded river crossing in India, killing dozens

NEW DELHI - At least 29 people were killed when two trains derailed at a flooded river crossing in central India, and rescuers were still searching for survivors, officials said Wednesday.

The trains derailed just before midnight Tuesday in the state of Madhya Pradesh, about 100 miles from the city of Bhopal. Officials estimated that as many as 600 people were aboard the two trains, which were headed in opposite directions.

Although the trains did not collide, at least 12 cars came off the tracks and fell onto their sides. Many passengers quickly scrambled to safety, some of them clinging to trees to avoid being washed away. Witnesses said it took hours for rescuers to reach the remote location.

Five children were among the dead, officials said. Rescuers pulled at least 300 people from the wreckage, extracting some trapped victims from flooded compartments. At least 70 were injured.

Railway authorities attributed the accident to monsoon rains, which they said had washed soft soil away from under the tracks. Manoj Sinha, a government railway official, said more than 400 yards of track had been damaged by the flooding.

"Five minutes before the accident, another train passed the same spot, and nothing happened," Sinha said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences in a statement, calling the accident "deeply distressing." His railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, announced an investigation and said families of the dead would receive compensation.

In the weeks since the start of the monsoon season, more than 100 people in India have died from related floods, landslides and building collapses.